In recent times, household food steamer appliances have become very popular. One such appliance for steaming food is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,803, issued to Glucksman on Apr. 11, 1995, for FOOD STEAMER UTENSIL. The steamer appliance features a water tank in which steam is generated. The steam from the water vessel then passes laterally into an adjacent cooking vessel, through a spout located upon the water vessel. The spout plugs into the water vessel, thus making the water vessel removable with respect to the cooking vessel, in which food is disposed. The removable water tank allows for ease of cleaning the appliance after use. The utensil has a section for collecting the drippings from the steamed food, so that the drippings are not reboiled by the steamer appliance. The cooking vessel and the water vessel are each mounted upon their individual bases, thus making each section independent of each other.
The present invention is similar to the steam utensil described above, but with some important improvements. The steam appliance of this invention comprises a more compact and efficient design, wherein both the water tank and the cooking vessel are each mounted upon a common base. Water from the water tank flows through a trap into a reservoir located in the center of the common base unit. The flow of water from the tank is automatically regulated. The flow stops automatically when a valve needle is closed by high pressure generated inside the circular heating tube.
Steam is generated as the water in the reservoir is fed to a hollow, circular heating tube. The circular heating tube allows for an efficient transfer of heat to the water, thus permitting the water to flash into steam within seconds. The steam, which is under high pressure within the heating tube, leaves the heating tube horizontally through a steam cap. The steam then rises quickly into the cooking vessel disposed directly above the heating tube.
Water entering the hollow heating tube causes the water level in the reservoir to drop, thus causing the flow of additional water from the tank to the reservoir. This automatic flow regulation provides a continuous and smooth steam generation within the appliance.
The separate reservoir located in the common base unit allows the water tank to be removed while steam is still being generated. The reservoir contains enough residual water to allow steam generation to continue for a sufficient time while the tank is replenished. This is an important advantage over the aforementioned steam utensil, because the tank can be refilled without interrupting the cooking cycle.